


the force of others

by ofhobbitsandwomen (litvirg)



Series: got a hold on me [2]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: 'some one is watching us quick let's make out so we don't seem suspicious' trope, Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Coda, F/M, less angst than usual, more make out fun, very self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:26:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9387164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litvirg/pseuds/ofhobbitsandwomen
Summary: everything's going according to plan on Jedha, until Jyn spots a strange man watching them. She makes a split second decision on how to subvert suspicion.





	

It was easy enough to blend in, at first. With all the people bustling around them, so long as they kept their head down and moved along, no one was paying them any mind. 

When Jyn bumped into the man ready to fight, she was sure he’d already been waiting for something to swing at, and she just happened to be the closest target. Cassian glared at her when she didn’t cower away and he had to step forward to separate them. 

“No,” he said quickly, his body covering hers. “We’re sorry, we don’t want any trouble.”

He kept close to her after that, annoyingly close, like she was a kid who needed to be watched over. Her toes nearly kicked the backs of his heels as she stepped, he was so close. 

The longer they walked, the less Jyn believed he had a real plan to get them to Saw Gererra. They were weaving in and around the cramped street, but Cassian’s eyes couldn’t stay focused and she knew something wasn’t quite right. An old instinct flared up inside her, telling her to run, to get out of the crowd, away from Cassian’s back, to get somewhere with decent cover. A place she could duck into and hide before running if she needed to. 

It was a dusty old road full of memories, and she wasn’t too happy to be strolling down them with Cassian, lurking on the fringes, judging her. 

“What now?” she asked him, trying to distract herself. He’d been glancing back at her every few seconds, like he knew she was going to try to run, but he stopped, really looking at her, considering, before he spoke. Maybe considering how much to actually tell her. 

“We’ll give her your name,” he said, referring to his contact in the city, “and hope that gets us a meeting with Saw.”

“Hope?” she asked, stunned. There was little room for hope when Saw Gererra was concerned. Militant, guarded, paranoid, Saw. Hope wasn’t going to cut it. Hope was just going to invite trouble. 

“Yeah,” Cassian said. The corner of his mouth had tipped up in a crooked smile. “Rebellions are built on hope.” 

She watched the people in the street being shoved aside, pushed and poked and prodded and she wondered what it was they had to hope for. Stormtroopers filed in, Knocking two, three people aside at a time, pulling them up by the collars of their shirts, demanding identification. 

“Is this all because of your pilot?” Jyn asked him. 

Cassian pulled up short, glancing around every side of them. Possibly looking for a way out, possibly looking for a place to hide. He grabbed her arm, his fingers wrapped tightly around her bicep as he kept moving. There was uncertainty in his eyes she had yet to see and Jyn wondered how much he’d actually been prepared for when they landed and how much he was making up on the spot. 

She could feel the sweat on his palm through her shirt, but his face was schooled into something calm, giving nothing away, still blending into their surroundings. 

More Stormtroopers filtered in, blocking off the side street Cassian had been heading for and he tripped a little, stopping quickly to reassess. 

He was nervous. Jyn didn’t know why but she felt a sudden ache of compassion for him. She’d been like him before, she knew. Jumping in to fights that weren’t hers putting herself in and then pulling herself out of tricky spots. It was a special kind of blow to the ego when you couldn’t find your way out on your own. 

And Cassian, while he’d been gruff and short and quiet, hadn’t been unkind to her. It could have been because she was helping him, because without her he wouldn’t be able to finish his mission, but his hands were soft when they grabbed her and his eyes were careful when they watched her and there was something like traitorous fondness growing in her chest every time she saw the corner of his lips quirk up at one of her jokes. 

They understood each other. That’s what she told herself. 

She grabbed his arm with her outside hand, pulling at the forearm that still gripped hers. 

“This way,” she said quietly, pointing to an alleyway off to their left. She let her arm drop, and his grip relaxed enough that it slid below her elbow, lingering at her wrist. She caught the eye of someone watching them, a strange glance at the way Cassian’s hand wrapped hesitantly around her wrist, and she shifted so his hand slid down into hers. 

“Come on,” she said. He stayed close behind her, close enough that she could feel his breath on the side of her neck, and she pulled him around a corner, a secluded alcove she ducked into, away from the bustle of the street. 

He stood up straighter when he realized they were alone. 

“Thanks,” he said, nodding without really looking at her. 

She shrugged. It was just as much for her sake as it was for his, getting them out of there. 

“We may be a bit late for your contact,” she said. “If they’re still waiting at all.” 

“I’m not sure that’s going to matter much longer,” Cassian said. 

“What do you mean?”

He glanced around before gesturing back to the area they had just left. 

“They’re looking for Saw’s rebels.” His eyes finally landed on hers. “You know as well as I do how Saw deals with anyone who stands against him.”

Jyn looked away. It had been a long time since she worked with Saw. She’d been just a girl. Things she did then, the person she was then, wasn’t who she was anymore. She wasn’t sure of anything. 

Cassian seemed to be watching her carefully as she debated this in her own head, a rare, almost soft look in his eyes. But that wasn’t what caught her attention. Her eye was drawn to a figure behind him, a few yards away, cloaked and watching them carefully. The person had turned as they walked by, slowly, waiting and watching them. 

“What?” Cassian whispered. “What is it?”

“Shut up,” she said quickly. 

“Jyn--” 

“Cassian,” she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer, shifting their position a little. The figure was off to the side of them, squared up with their shoulders, still far enough away that she couldn’t tell who it was. She paused, wondering what to do. Cassian still looked confused but he was frozen beneath her, waiting for her to finish whatever it was she started to say. 

Instead, with one final glance to the man at the corner, she pushed up off of the ground, her hand still twisted in his shirt, and crashed her lips against his. 

He stumbled back a step or two before regaining his balance, and his arm came out and wrapped around her back, steadying her. He was warm, she realized before she could stop herself. Warm and softer than she would have thought. 

The unshaven shadow on his face scraped her chin and cheeks a bit as he readjusted, his arms tightening around her, his head tilting to angle his lips against hers. She felt his fingers dig into her sides and his tongue swipe across her lip hungrily. 

Her brain went fuzzy as it happened, and all at once she could only feel whatever part of her body it was that he was touching. Her sides where his fingers rested, her back where one arm was still slung across, the tip of her nose that his own kept bumping. Each little patch of skin buzzing alive with every bit of contact and she melted, her legs giving way as he took control, moving them so she was fully balanced against him. 

Without permission, one of her hands reached up and twisted in the hair at the nape of his neck. His skin flushed, she felt the heat radiate from him to her palm and reach all the way up to the tips of her fingers playing with the ends of his sweat slicked hair. 

The hand that was gripping the collar of his shirt had moved down, resting against his abdomen, and she could feel the muscles, taut beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. 

She heard a low growl from the back of Cassian’s throat and she couldn’t help but smile into him. If this was what rebels did, she thought, maybe she’d been running too long. 

It was with that thought that she snapped back, grabbing breaths by the handfuls as Cassian looked on at her, his eyes lingering on her swollen lips as they slowly pulled apart. 

She glanced over his shoulder. No strange man. 

“He’s gone,” she said, softly. “We should get moving.”

“Who’s gone?” he asked. 

Her skin was burning under his gaze and she had to look away. 

“The man,” she said, pointing to where he had been standing. “He was watching us and I thought--” she frowned, wondering what exactly it was that she had thought. “Better safe than sorry, I suppose.” 

“Right,” he said straightening up. He was all back to business. He was already moving, scoping out the area. “Good thinking.” He pulled her back through the crowds, the stormtroopers gone from their path, and stopped her in a corner near a man, sitting down, repeating one phrase over and over again. 

_ “May the Force of others be with you.” _

“Wait for me here,” Cassian said, and then without looking at her, he pushed himself into the crowd away from where she stood. 

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr @ofhobbitsandwomen


End file.
